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6/20: Hello readers and friends. I am having my second (of two) total knee replacement surgeries today so I'll be out of commission for a bit while I recover. Please be patient while I get back to full health. I hope to be back to posting as soon as I can. I look forward to getting back out there. 🙏. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor
The inter-neighborhood hostilities over the city’s Lincoln-Harrison Neighborhood Greenway Enhancement Project seem to have reached a new level.
On March 13th a man riding a bicycle was involved in a collision with a MAX light rail train in southeast Portland. We haven’t heard much in the way of official updates in the case, but thanks to a comment left on our story yesterday we now know more about where and how it happened.
Kidical Mass is one of my favorite things ever: riding bikes with my kids, hanging out with a bunch of fun families, and demonstrating the joy of biking for transportation. The first ride of the year is coming April 1st (no foolin’), and I’d love to see you out there.
My first experience with Kidical Mass was nine years ago when I was new to Seattle and had up until that point only biked around my immediate neighborhood with just my toddler for company. I attended the inaugural Seattle Kidical Mass ride on May 15, 2009 — on my city bike with my two-year old in a front seat and my seven-month-pregnant belly wedged behind it — and was amazed to see so many other families biking with kids. I was intrigued by the many different types of family bikes and overjoyed at riding in a big pack. Each Kidical Mass ride was the highlight of my month and showed me new parts of town I wanted to revisit. I was motivated to figure out a bike route to the start of each ride and then experiencing these new areas with the big, safe group made me eager to return.
Several sections of the I-205 path will be updated by the Oregon Department of Transportation this year.
As part of a larger I-205 widening and repaving project ODOT plans to make upgrades to the adjacent multi-use path in Maywood Park, at NE Glisan, and at the SE Stark/Washington crossing. They will also stripe new bike lanes and crossings on the SE Johnson Creek Blvd overpass.
Here are the details…
Job Title
Professional Bike Mechanic for Kerr Bikes
Company / Organization
Albertina Kerr
Job Description
Albertina Kerr empowers people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental health challenges and other social barriers to lead self-determined lives and reach their full potential.
Albertina Kerr is looking for a Bike Mechanic to join our Kerr Bikes team! The successful candidate will be responsible for maintaining our fleet of rental bikes, working on customer repairs, instructing Kerr clients in repair practices, coordinating part orders with the Kerr bikes manager, maintaining a clean and orderly work environment, delegating responsibilities based on needs, and potentially helping out at some promotional events throughout the summer. The Mechanic should be able to lift at least 50 lbs and adjust to a changing work environment. Training will be provided but a full professional understanding of bike mechanical systems is a must. Experience with adaptive bikes, recumbents, and supplemental adaptive parts is a plus. Professional Bike Mechanic Certification is required.
Position is seasonal from April through October and will be roughly 20-25 hours a week, schedule to be determined but expect to work at least 4 hours Saturday and Sunday Mornings. There will be opportunities for more hours during busy times. Ideally we would hire back the same mechanic the next season if you are still interested.
Apply online at http://www.albertinakerr.org . The nature of the services we provide prevents us from allowing in-person applications or inquiries. Albertina Kerr maintains a drug-free workplace and is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to status as a protected veteran or a qualified individual with a disability, or other protected status, such as race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, age, or other factors protected by law. Individuals with disabilities can request accommodation in the application and employment process by contacting 503-262-0145.
How to Apply
Click, or copy and paste the link below:
https://chm.tbe.taleo.net/chm01/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=KERR&cws=37&rid=838
After years of planning and plotting and delays, the Portland Bureau of Transportation is ready for public feedback on their $8.4 million project to update central city streets. Today they launched a virtual open house for their Central City in Motion project.
Daniel Greenstadt is a Concordia neighborhood resident and off-road cycling advocate who has attended many of the Off-road Cycling Plan meetings. In a post on BikePortland last April he shared his hopes and concerns for the plan.
Imagine yourself, your family, or your children pedaling along Forest Park’s newly constructed, 1.5-mile, shared-use trail from the area of NW Thurman Street to the brand new, two-million-dollar Forest Park Entrance and Nature Center at NW St Helens Road and NW Kittridge. You’re riding on a 2-6 foot wide path – some of it not even within Forest Park – immediately adjacent to the industrial buildings, rail yards, commercial operations, and tank farms that crowd the Highway 30 corridor. You are riding in the most ecologically degraded area of Forest Park on what Northwest Trail Alliance has described as “essentially a dirt sidewalk.”
Uber has been testing its new self-driving cars on human subjects since last year and now it appears one of them has killed a person who was walking across a street. The collision happened in Tempe, Arizona late last night. According to a local news report, “Tempe Police says the vehicle was in autonomous mode at the time of the crash and a vehicle operator was also behind the wheel.”
This is the second self-driving Uber (that we know about) that has been involved in a collision. Last month a local news station in Pittsburgh reported that one of them slammed into another car while in self-driving mode.
After last night’s death, Uber has announced it will immediately end its testing in Tempe and Pittsburgh, as well as San Francisco and Toronto.
Thankfully in Portland our local leaders and transportation officials have not allowed a private company to test their deadly product on humans.
Welcome to a new week.
Here are the best stories we came across in the past seven days…
A sign of humanity: Read this tale from New York about how a woman’s bike theft-inspired sign sparked a karma loop that began in her neighborhood and reached across continents.
Customer Service Representative
Stages Indoor Cycling
Stages Cycling came to market in 2012 to completely blow the category of power measurement apart. We seek to provide all our customers from our most elite professionally sponsored partners, to new cyclists just getting started with outstanding levels of customer service and the highest quality data for training. Stages Indoor Cycling provides cyclists and fitness enthusiasts a space to train indoors with the same data as training outdoors in an inspiring environment.
We are looking for someone to join our team in serving our customers in the following role:
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Provide pre- and post- sales technical support for Stages Indoor Cycling (SIC) products to domestic consumer and International distributor accounts.
Customer Technical Support
• Provide sales and technical support to our domestic consumer and dealer accounts
• Support pre-sale and post-sale technical support on our indoor cycles, power meters, StagesFlight, and any other SIC products
• Communicate with customers via inbound and outbound phone calls*
• Communicate concerns or issue trends to SIC Customer Service Manager*
• Respond to customer service “tickets” submitted via email, the website, and occasionally social media*
• Provide exceptional customer experience in all communications with customers
• Stay up to date on internal communication regarding our product updates, relevant competitor products, industry developments, internal processes, customer facing processes, warranty and other technical support processes, trouble-shooting techniques, and other relevant information. This pertains to the Stages Indoor Cycling bike, power meter, StagesFlight system, and any other Stages Indoor Cycling products.
• Participate in Customer Service team meetings and trainings
Order Entry
• Respond to warranty needs as directed by SIC Customer Service Manager
• Issue parts orders for warranty replacements
• Place orders for parts as directed by SIC Customer Service Manager
• Troubleshooting for international distributors
Field Technician Support
• Provide technical support to field technicians with any questions related to installation, maintenance, trouble-shooting and any other questions related to the Stages Indoor Cycling bike, power meter, StagesFlight system, and any other future Stages Indoor Cycling products.
• Create work orders and purchase orders for third party field service technicians and work with accounting to ensure payments are completed in a timely manner
• Maintain files with contracts and insurance documents for third party service provider contracts
• Maintain google document with information on current third party service providers and the regions they cover
• Place orders for parts as requested by the Service Technicians and approved by the Service Director.
• Other tasks and projects as assigned
*Designates non-essential job responsibilities
QUALIFICATIONS AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
• This is a full time position.
• High level of organizational skills.*
• High level of flexibility and creative problem solving.*
• Ability to work independently and self-manage duties and tasks.*
• Ability to use customer management and order processing systems, with training.*
• High level communication and interpersonal skills, including high-volume telephone and written correspondence.*
• Intermediate communication skills: Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively with customers or employees of Foundation Fitness/Stages Cycling.*
• Intermediate math skills: Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts and percentages. Ability to apply concepts of basic math.
• High reasoning skills: Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.*
PREFERRED SKILLS EXPERIENCE WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE COMMUNICATING VIA PHONE AND EMAIL, EXPERIENCE WITH WORD, SPREADSHEET, AND INVENTORY SOFTWARE.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT
• Ability to sit and type at a computer for the duration of the day.
• This position is primarily an in office position.
• Quiet office environment with noise from call center and occasional customer visits.
• Able to lift 50lbs.
• Able to squat, bend, carry equipment, move heavy equipment with moving devices; able to use fingers, hands, and arms to build equipment; able to use tools to build equipment.
We encourage anyone that is interested to apply! We will make a selection based solely on job qualifications and will make reasonable accommodations if needed.
This position will come with a benefit package including Medical Insurance, Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance, Long Term Disability Insurance, access to our Retirement Savings matching program, paid time off and holidays. Additionally this position gets to work with a team of great people that like to ride bikes.
This role may service either our cycling products or our indoor commercial fitness bikes featuring our power meter for rides inside. More information and a full job description to be provided upon request.
To apply, please e-mail jobs@stagescycling.com with your resume and cover letter.
A very popular riding area north of Portland will be a bit safer this summer.
Today at their meeting in Salem, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Commission voted unanimously to ban alcohol use in the Sauvie Island Wildlife Area from May 1st to September 30th.
The ban comes after a recommendation by ODFW to stem the increase in drunk driving and other alcohol-related arrests and disturbances on Sauvie Island beaches within the boundaries of the wildlife area.
A private, invite-only meeting of Central Eastside power-brokers held on Wednesday at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry shows just how seriously the City of Portland is taking an effort to establish a network of low-stress, “family-friendly” cycling routes throughout the Central City.
It also shows how much weight some business owners have in a planning process that’s over five years old and has yet to become open to the general public.
Before I bring you up to speed on the Central City in Motion project (formerly known as the Central City Multimodal Project), a bit of background is in order…
